Facebook Messenger adding facial recognition for easier photo sharing

Facebook has begun a slow rollout of a new feature for its Messenger app that it hopes will make sharing photos easier. Called Photo Magic, the new feature uses facial recognition technology to find photos of your friends in your camera roll.

Once you opt-in to Photo Magic, Facebook Messenger will scour your camera roll for the newest photo of one of your friends. Once it finds one, it will prompt you to send it. For photos containing multiple friends, Messenger will open a new message thread for you and everyone in the image. As you take new pictures with your friends, Messenger will notify you to suggest that you share your new pictures with the included friends.

Photo Magic is rolling out now in Australia, coming to Android first, followed later this week by iOS. It is expected to expand to more countries over the next few months.

I can see no reason for Facebook to want this except to build yet another database of stuff they can use to shove more ads in people's faces.

Plus do we REALLY know those databases of pictures and people's. fingerprints are safe from government spying? All this "personal and identifiable information" stored on phones now is a bit over the top. Anyone who thinks their information is secure is fooling themselves. Yep I sometimes wear a tinfoil hat and for good reasons too.